A primary issue for ice skaters is attaining stability upon an ice-skate blade. Injuries can occur if a skater is not balanced upon the blades attached to skate boots worn by the skater. In particular, young children can be injured if they are not balanced on the blades of their ice skates. For example, during the period from 2000-2002 in Canada 10.4% of ice and snow sports injuries occurred as a result of ice skating, and 84% of these injuries occurred in children and youth 5-14 years of age. In the province of Ontario, Canada during the period from 2004-2005 there were 5,102 emergency department visits and 283 hospitalizations due to ice-skating related injuries.
Several prior art inventions have been created to address the stability of a skater. For example, slideable structures that can be held onto by a skater while they are skating on the ice surface have been developed.
There are also a number of configurations of ice-skating blades that have been created for a variety of purposes relating to ice-skating. The following are examples of other existing prior art ice-skating blades.
Inventors have configured skates having two parallel blades, an example of this type of prior art is the bob skate. Some versions of bob skates can be strapped onto shoes or boots. This prior art is intended to assist the stability of a beginner skater by offering two blades on each skate to prevent a beginner skater from being required to balance upon a single blade. Such prior art is not utilizable for the purpose of a skater performing skating skills.
Skateez, a product of a PTX Performance Products, a Canadian company, is an attachment that is connected to the boot of a skate. Once so connected, a stabilizing piece extends downwards from either side of the skate boot to be virtually parallel with the skate blade. The stabilizing pieces act in a similar manner to training wheels on a bicycle. If a skater leans too far to the left or to the right the stabilizing piece extending on the side towards which the skater is leaning will make contact with the ice surface and is expected to prevent the skater's lean from increasing. However, when either stabilizing piece comes into contact with the ice surface the skater may be likely to experience increased imbalance and stability issues as the contact of the stabilizing piece with the ice may impede the flow of the gliding of the skater upon their skates. Unlike a training wheel on a bike that is configured to roll when it comes into contact with the ground and thereby sustain the forward motion of the bike in a seamless manner, the blunt stabilizing pieces of the Skateez product will not be able to sustain the prior motion of the skater. The contact with the ice of the stabilizing piece that is a few inches in length and has a blunt edge may create substantial friction that will impede the flow of the gliding of the skater upon the ice. The long blunt stabilizing piece being driven into the ice could create increased instability and imbalance for the skater. Moreover, as the Skateez product is focused upon medial and lateral forces it cannot prevent forward and backward instability, or any imbalances or falls caused by such instability. Furthermore, the Skateez product is bulky when fitted upon a skate boot and encumbers a skater so that the skater is impeded from performing skating skills.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,570,893 granted to Orebroskenan Aktiebolag on Nov. 5, 1996, discloses an ice-skate blade that incorporates a central runner and at least one side-runner on each side of the main runner. The main runner further incorporates a discontinuous glide surface one part of which near the center of the blade does not make contact with the ice when the blade is in use. This blade is designed to improve gliding and maneuvering properties when used for skating. However, the configuration of the side-runners incorporate pics extending at a right angle from either side of the main runner. These pics will catch in and gouge into the ice surface if a skater is unbalanced on the blade and may cause the skater to fall. Moreover, as the whole of the main runner is not in contact with the surface of the ice the skater is not balancing on a continuous blade that is in continuous contact with an ice surface, but rather on a front and back section of a blade that are in contact with the ice surface. This configuration can create instability for a skater because it can be difficult for the skater to balance on a non-continuous blade.
Great Britain Patent Application No. 2473205 filed in the name of David Phillips Owens on Mar. 9, 2009, discloses an ice-skate blade that incorporates a curved front leading edge with a curved inwards facing single downward pointed pic, and a curved back leading edge with a curved inwards facing single downward pointed pic. The ice-skate blade is said to allow for free forward and backward sliding action across a horizontal ice surface. The pics are fashioned to engage a horizontal ice surface if the blade is angled away from a horizontal ice surface and slid against the pic point causing that pointed pic to gouge and otherwise be driven deep into the ice surface to resist any such sliding action. Notably, the activity of the pic gouging and being driven into the ice surface to resist sliding action creates a likelihood that the skater will be thrown off-balance, and may even be caused to fall onto the ice surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 94,336 granted to P. A. Peer on Aug. 31, 1869, discloses an ice-skate runner having a round point at both toe and heel, the points are follow or bored out. The hollow points are intended to engage with the ice at any angle and to act as a pivot on which the skater may whirl. Essentially the hollow points are operable in a similar manner to the pics that extend outwards from the surface of some skate blades to allow for gripping of the ice surface so that the skater can achieve spins and jumps. This prior art would create similar issues for the stability of a skater as other prior art that incorporates pics that extend outwardly from the blade in that the hollow points engaging with the ice may imbalance a skater, in particular a beginning or junior skater may be experience imbalance.
German Patent No. 45137 granted to Eugen Wagner on Jan. 21, 1888 discloses an ice-skate blade with inwards facing downward pointed pics near the front edge and back edge of a skate blade. The pointed pies are shaped to engage with the ice surface when the skater skates upon the front or the back edge of the blade. The pointed pics are operable in the same manner as the pics that extend outwards from the surface of some skate blades to allow for gouging and being driven deep into the ice surface so that the skater can achieve spins and jumps. Notably, the activity of the pic gouging and being driven into the ice surface to resist sliding action creates a likelihood that the skater will be thrown off-balance, and may even be caused to fall onto the ice surface.
German Patent Application Publication No. 29708382 in the name of Klaus-Dieter Pollex dated Sep. 4, 1997, discloses an ice-skate blade with inwards facing downward pointed pics near the front edge and back edge of a skate blade. The pointed pies are shaped to engage with the ice surface when the skater skates upon the front or the back edge of the blade. The pointed pics are operable in the same manner as the pics that extend outwards from the surface of some skate blades to allow for gripping of the ice surface so that the skater can achieve spins and jumps, such as are worn by figure skaters. The skate blade further is shaped as rounded on the longitudinal edge of the blade so that two far edges of the blade are in contact with ice surface, but the middle section is rounded away from the ice so that it is not in contact with the ice. This configuration causes a skater to be balanced on one or both of the outer edges of the rounded section of the blade, as one or more both of these edges will be in contact with the ice. The skater cannot balance on the whole surface of the lower edge of a blade when skating because the whole of the lower edge of the blade cannot be in contact with the ice surface due to the rounded shape of the lower edge of the blade. This prior art is not operable to assist a skater to either regain balance or maintain balance upon the blade.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0292886 in the name of Ulf Morgan Friberg published on Nov. 22, 2012, discloses edges for skates that incorporate more than one edge into the skate to allow for an increased grip when turning and braking. Notably, this invention is also disclosed for use with skis and snowboards. This invention is not directed to a skater achieving balance upon a skate blade.
Chinese Patent Application Publication No. 201441804 in the name of Junxiao Ai dated Apr. 28, 2010, discloses an ice-skate blade that has an anti-falling accessory arranged at the rear bottom of the blade. The anti-falling accessory is connected to the skate blade by a screw and once so connected extends from the rear of the blade to be positioned behind the back of the blade. When a user falls backwards the front end of the anti-falling accessory will warp upwards, and when the front end warps at a slight angle, a slip preventing block of the anti-falling accessory touches the ice surface and prevents the front end from warping further upwards. The anti-falling accessory further reduces skating speed so that the skater can regain his or her balance and will be impeded from falling backwards. This prior art does not prevent a skater from falling forwards or prevent a skater from falling due to sliding off either side of the blade.
None of the prior art ice-skate blades have produced a skate blade that is effective in balancing a skater upon the blade, assisting a skater to regain balance upon a blade, and that also may be utilized by a skater to learn and develop basic skating skills. The ability of a skater to balance upon an ice-skate blade is critical for a skater to initially learn to skate, and for a skater to learn and develop skating skills. Thus, the prior art leaves a gap in the art of ice-skate blades in that there is a need for an ice-skate blade that facilitates the balance of a skater upon a skate blade, assists a skater to regain balance upon a skate blade, and that allows a skater to learn and develop skating skills.